Rising gasoline prices are a national emergency

Call me crazy, but somehow, I am a lot less concerned about whether Roger Clemens perjured himself than I am about rising oil and gasoline prices.

The national media continues to focus on all the wrong things. With the economy going down the toilet; Exxon-Mobil posting record-breaking quarterly profits and the housing market – not to mention the dollar – in a shambles, the talking heads continue to pretend that Clemens’ use (or non-use) of human growth hormone is an important story.

It isn’t.

In the scheme of things – in the long run – in terms of what affects everyday, ordinary Americans like you and me – it most definitely is not.

The biggest news in the country right now, as far as I’m concerned, is what you and I are being forced to pay at the pump. And I am not just talking about local gas prices – gas is high everywhere. It is well over $3 a gallon no matter where you go, and it got there overnight – heck, in a matter of minutes. There is no sign of it going back down.

High gas, as you well know, impacts us all, on every conceivable level, from grocery prices to our heating bills. If you want to know what is wrong with the economy – why consumers aren’t “doing their part” by spending more at Big Box retailers – I have one answer: Energy prices.

Arkadelphia Siftings Herald